Turkey are bottom of the group. Two games, two defeats, zero points. That’s historic for us before a ball is kicked. I’m weighing my words.
Then I read Walfoot (the Belgian football site) at the café’s foosball table, and I had to put my glass down. Mark van Bommel has watched Turkey’s recent matches, at the World Cup and in the Nations League against France and Italy. He notes the chances they create. According to him, Turkey have consistently dominated their opponents on expected goals, and their finishing is probably what they need to work on. So they dominate everybody. And they have nothing. That’s a disgrace. For them or for us, I don’t know yet, but I can feel it coming.
We have three points: 0-2 against Italy, historic, then 0-1 against France at the King Baudouin Stadium, a disgrace. Same group. The group is in a good place, you can tell, it just changes temperature every week.
The manager said: “We want to win every game we play, even more so as it’s at home. The Sclessin stadium has to drive us on.” I copied that into the WhatsApp group “Sunday Devils”. My brother-in-law replied with the word “xG” followed by a question mark. He doesn’t know what it is. Neither do I, but I’ve already said it three times at the table as if I did.
A goal that was expected is a goal that never came.
A win on Friday at 8.45pm, and the Red Devils go six points clear of Turkey after three games. Six points. Historic, really. Well, not bad. Now we take it one game at a time, you know.
It’s true, we checked: Walfoot.
